It’s time to be honest with ourselves about emperor system

In recalling the summer of 1945 in "Zoku Darakuron" (Discourse on Decadence: Part II), author Ango Sakaguchi (1906-1955) vented his disgust with the Japanese people: "They wept, urging one another to bear the unbearable and accept the nation's defeat (in World War II) because this is the order of none other than their majesty the emperor. Liars! Liars! Liars!"

In reality, the Japanese had been sick and tired of the war, and Sakaguchi decried their deceitfulness as "profound and historic."

Not wanting to die, the people had desperately wanted the war to end. Yet, they had chosen to remain silent, acquiescing in........